What makes a Formula 1 driver end his career? According to ex-driver David Coulthard, sometimes it all comes down to a single moment
Niki Lauda once made one of the most spectacular retirements in Formula 1 history. The Austrian threw in the towel during the 1979 Grand Prix weekend in Canada and only returned to the premier class more than two years later
Lauda himself justified this at the time with a lack of motivation, and other drivers also retired from Formula 1 over the course of time, sometimes quite surprisingly. David Coulthard’s decision to end his career was also once relatively spontaneous.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the 13-time Grand Prix winner and 2001 World Championship runner-up recalls: “I woke up for pre-season testing [in 2008], which turned out to be my last year. And when I drove the car, I just didn’t feel it.”
“In racing, the brand new car at the start of a season comes with all the hopes and aspirations. Unlike other sports […] the drivers need the car, otherwise they can’t perform,” explains the former Red Bull driver.
Coulthard: “Knew my car wasn’t a winning car “
Coulthard joined Formula 1 with Williams in 1994 and won his first Grand Prix for the team in 1995 before celebrating his greatest successes in the premier class with McLaren between 1996 and 2004. In 2005, he moved to the then new Red Bull team
Although he first had to build up his career there and had not won a race since 2003, he did not think about retiring for a long time. The decisive moment was the test drives before the start of the 2008 season.
“On that day, I knew that my car was not a winning car – and I lost my energy,” recalls Coulthard. Because unlike today, Red Bull was not a winning team back then, and Coulthard actually only made it onto the podium once in his farewell season
Coulthard felt “liberated” after retirement
The Scot only officially announced his retirement at the end of the year in the summer at his home race in Silverstone. But the decision had long since been made. Coulthard draws a comparison and explains: “It’s like relationships.”
“You can never imagine not being in a relationship. Until the moment you think: ‘I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore’. And instead of being depressed, I actually felt liberated,” reveals the now 52-year-old.
At his farewell race at the season finale in Brazil, the Scot was 37, and unlike Lauda, he never returned to Formula 1. However, he did not turn his back on racing completely, remaining with Red Bull in 2009 as a test driver, among other things.
Between 2010 and 2012, he also raced in the DTM for another three years. However, he never won another race there either